Hi folks! Last night I went to the midnight showing of Marvel’s Avengers, the ensemble cast superhero action movie. The Avengers team is made up mostly of characters who already have made at least one movie appearance: Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Nick Fury, and the Black Widow. Newcomer to this latest iteration of the Avengers on the big screen is the character Hawkeye, who is sort of a cross between DC Comics’s Green Arrow and, well … no one. No one really knows WTF Hawkeye is on the Avengers; he just is.

Anyway, here are some brief thoughts on the movie, and yet another test of

For those of you who haven’t been to a movie in the theater with me yet, I have a very trusted and accurate system for judging if the film will be good or not. I follow the previews before the film. I award one point for a good trailer. I deduct one point for a trailer for a movie that I wouldn’t want to see, or runs counter to the movie’s genre. For example, if there was a romantic comedy trailer right before an action film, I’d give the movie a -1, even if the romantic comedy trailer seemed good.

Expendables 2 – Hell yeah. I loved the first one, and the idea of an action movie nearly devoid of any purpose or high drama fits right in with the Avengers. +1

Prometheus – Who doesn’t want to see the unofficial prequel to the Alien franchise? This was the same trailer I saw back in March when I saw the Hunger Games, which was a bit of a disappointment. Still, the end of the trailer is riveting, and I look forward to seeing this film in the theater. +1

Battleship – Hollywood’s creativity is so bankrupt from doing reboots that it had to turn to boring as hell board games for movie ideas. Despite any amount of logic, the trailer for Battleship was actually pretty damn good. If they had named it “Aliens From the Deep” or “Holy Shit What’s That Spinning Thing” I would be even more inclined to see it. Battleship is shaping up to be a great mindless summer action blockbuster. E-10. You sank my preconceived notions. +1

Dark Knight Rises – This looks good, but I’m so disinterested in the series by now I am not super excited by the trailer. I think the movie has the ability to break the current superhero film mold by telling the story of someone who doesn’t make it at the end with just a few bumps and bruises. Here’s to hoping the comic book arc between Bane and Batman plays out on the silver screen. +1.

Frankenweenie – WTF. This is a black and white animated film collaboration by Disney and Tim Burton. I think it’s going to be too grim for kids who like Disney, and too Disney for people who like Tim Burton. I expect this to be like when an acid combines with a base. Just plain water, with a little bit of salt. -1

Amazing Spider-Man – I just can’t get excited by yet another Spider-Man movie. Yes, I know this isn’t a complete reboot, and delves more into the backstory of Peter Parker’s backstory, but I don’t really care. The trailer definitely didn’t change my opinion of the movie, or the approach to a very, very well-known character. Unlike the Dark Knight Rises trailer, wherein a well-established character may suffer a massive change, I feel like Amazing Spider-Man will just be more of the same. I may have given this trailer a +1 last time when I talked about the Hunger Games, but this time it gets a -1.

Brave – an animated movie about a gal who wants to be a warrior instead of a princess. Hopefully they’ll wind up with the right answer at the end – warrior princess – and I am cautiously optimistic that this will be a beautiful, thought-provoking movie. I’m always interested in action films that portray strong women, so maybe this will be like an animated version of Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise. +1

The Verdict: +3

5 out of 7 is pretty damn good, and is the highest score I’ve ever given a movie since I started the Patented DrFaulken Movie Prediction System™ about six years ago.

I’d say that summarizes my opinion of the Avengers pretty well. I thought overall the movie was incredibly strong, and only had a few shortcomings. The writing and interaction between the characters fit the needs of an ensemble cast of larger-than-life characters. Almost everything about the movie was extreme, from Captain America’s slow-motion flights through the air, to a dramatic rescue near the end of the film.

I felt that parts of the movie were unnecessarily dark visually — particularly the parts where the main villain Loki is consulting with his otherworldly allies.

While some of the dialog was witty and we laughed out loud a lot during the movie, there were definitely some roll-your-eye lines. I know Captain America is supposed to represent a patriotic spirit and a man out of time, but sometimes he was hard for me to take. I guess I’m more of a Tony Stark kind of guy. That being said, Iron Man has a few lame lines too, including one during a climatic stand-off with Loki.

Overall, Marvel’s Avengers was an incredible start to the summer blockbuster action movie season. The Patented DrFaulken Movie Prediction System™ came through again, and I look forward to seeing some of the other films featured in the trailers.